• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.423-427
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• 2004

In this work, we propose a new ultrasonic damage inspection method in plate structures. The proposed method employs an OPMT (Orientation-adjustable Patch-type Magnetostrictive Transducer) in order to make the ultrasonic waves focused on the specific target point. For experiments, virtual grid points were set up at every 50 mm in an aluminum plate and two OPMTs were used for inspection. If there exists a crack in a plate, the reflected Lamb wave from the crack is measured in addition to the direct waves from the transmitting transducer to the receiving transducer.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.373-388
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• 2022

A USW based diagnostic procedure is presented for estimating the depth of surface-breaking cracks. The diagnosis is demonstrated on seven lab-scale SFRC beam specimens, which are subjected to the CMOD controlled three-point bending test to create real bending cracks. Then, the recorded multiple ultrasonic signals are examined with the signal processing techniques, including wavelet transform and two-dimensional Fourier transform, to investigate the relationships between the crack depth and two diagnostic indices, namely the attenuation coefficient and dispersion index (DI). Finally, the reliabilities of these indices for depth estimation are verified with the visually measured crack depths as well as the crack features obtained with a digital image processing algorithm. It is found that the DI outperforms the attenuation coefficient in depth estimation, where this index displays good agreement with the visual inspection for 86% of the inspected specimens.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.351-356
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• 2012

Ultrasonic cavitation is a physical phenomenon that generates and collapses microbubbles in media (mainly fluids) under conditions of strong ultrasonic irradiation. In this study, changes in the ultrasonic acoustic characteristics of bubble clouds in relation to ultrasonic irradiation were observed by the quantitative evaluation of cavitation yields. Concave-type single ultrasonic transducers with center frequencies of 500 kHz and 1.1 MHz were used to produce cavitation, and 2.25 MHz interference ultrasonic waves that would traverse any bubble clouds generated were used to analyze the cavitation. The parameters used for the evaluation of cavitation yields (changes in the center frequency, attenuation characteristics, and the propagation time of penetrating waves) were analyzed in relation to the cavitation-generating conditions (irradiation intensity, excitation signal, and center frequency). On the basis of these results, correlations between the changes in the center frequency and irradiation intensity were identified. Although the correlation coefficient was low, notable changes were observed in the center frequency under certain irradiation conditions. Attenuation trends in the interference ultrasonic waves showed high correlations with all the irradiation conditions, and it was noted that these trends were not affected by the forms of cavitation generated. No differences in the propagation time were observed among different irradiation conditions. These findings suggest that bubble yields can be quantitatively evaluated effectively by evaluating the diverse irradiation conditions and that such a quantitative evaluation could be used to study the basic cavitation phenomenon occurring in high-intensity ultrasonic wave treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.25-36
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• 1989

This essay is a general review of the application of ultrasonic NDE techniques to the performance assessment and characterization of composite materials. A brief review of ultrasonic input-output characterization of a composite plate by shear waves is presented. A theoretical development of ultrasonic wave propagation in isotropic and anisotropic media excited, respectively, by a circular transducer and an oscillatory point source is summarized. Some experimental results are described in which ultrasonic velocity and attenuation measurements give insight into material degradation of fatigued composite laminates. Ultrasonic determination of the elastic constants of a composite plate and an experimental attempt at ultrasonic testing of an isotropic plate containing a crack are also included. A recent effort for the characterization of viscoelastic materials using the ultrasonic NDE technique is outlined. Finally, the reliability of ultrasonic NDE is briefly touched upon.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1995.05a
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• pp.1-4
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• 1995

The most of conventional ultrasonic transducers are constructed to generate either longitudinal or shear waves, but not both of them. We investigated the mechanism of dual mode transducers that generates both of the longitudinal and shear waves simultaneously with a single PZT element. The study has been aimed to find the desired cut by the examining the piezoelectric properties. Theory predicts that a mixed P/S mode transducer can be constructed using a related Z-cut of a PZT ceramics. We studied the performance of a PZT element as a function of its rotation angle so that its efficiency is optimized to excite the two waves equally strongly. The results are verified by checking the impedance variation of the element with Finite Element Methods, and chocking the wave form by pulse-echo test simulation. Based upon the theory a rotated Z-cut was prepared and a transducer were fabricated. Validity of the theory calculation is verified through the

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.224-230
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• 2007

This work is aimed to explore a possibility of using the generalized Lamb waves for nondestructive evaluation of the bonding quality of layered substrates. For this purpose, we prepared two sets of specimens with imperfect bonding at their interfaces; 1) TiN-coated specimens with various wear conditions, and 2) CVD diamond specimens with various cleaning conditions. A dispersion simulation performed for layered substrates with imperfect interfaces are carried out to get the characteristics of dispersion curves that can be used for bonding quality evaluation. Then the characteristics of dispersion curves of the fabricated specimens are experimentally determined by use of an ultrasonic backward radiation measurement technique. The results obtained in the present study show that the lowest velocity mode (Rayleigh-like) of the generalized Lamb waves are sensitively affected by the bonding quality. Therefore, the generalized Lamb waves can be applied for nondestructive evaluation of imperfect bonding quality in various layered substrates.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.297-309
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• 2012

As a result of the medium coupling, propagation characteristics of ultrasonic waves guided by a multi-phase medium can be different from those in a homogeneous system. This phenomenon becomes prominent for a medium consisting of phases with considerably distinct material and physical properties (e.g., submerged structures or human bones covered with soft tissues). In this study, the coupling effect arising from both fluid and soft tissues on wave propagation in engineering structures and human bone phantoms, respectively, was explored and calibrated quantitatively, with a purpose of enhancing the precision of ultrasonic-wave-based non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and clinical quantitative ultrasound (QUS). Calibration results were used to rectify conventional NDE during evaluation of corrosion in a submerged aluminium plate, and QUS during prediction of simulated healing status of a mimicked bone fracture. The results demonstrated that with the coupling effect being appropriately taken into account, the precision of NDE and QUS could be improved.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.8-26
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• 1990

It is important to have exact information about the contact pressure distribution in the design of connected parts of machines and structures. In previous works, stress analyses on a two body contact problem have been carried out in large numbers. Besides, the measurement of contact stress is important to confirm the adequateness of the theoretical analysis, to verify appropriateness of Hertzian contact theory and to know the practical pressure distribution, but an excellent measuring method con't be found at present. Therefore, a quantitative measurement of contact pressure by means of ultrasonic waves using a normal probe and an angle has been proposed to measure the contact pressure distribution between two rough flat surfaces. At first, in a new proposed calibration method, the relation between mean contact pressure and sound pressure of reflected waves is obtained by using calibration blocks with various surface roughnesses made of the same material as the rectangular section beams And then, this experimental results are compared with the analytical ones, and the utility of this method is discussed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.1167-1174
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• 2022

Cast austenitic stainless steels (CASSs) are widely used as structural materials in the nuclear industry. The main drawback of CASSs is the reduction in fracture toughness due to long-term exposure to operating environment. Even though ultrasonic non-destructive testing has been conducted in major nuclear components and pipes, the detection of cracks is difficult due to the scattering and attenuation of ultrasonic waves by the coarse grains and the inhomogeneity of CASS materials. In this study, the ultrasonic signals measured in thermally aged CASS were discriminated for the first time with the simple ultrasonic technique (UT) and machine learning (ML) models. Several different ML models, specifically the K-nearest neighbors (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) models, were used to classify the ultrasonic signals as thermal aging condition of CASS specimens. We identified that the ML models can predict the category of ultrasonic signals effectively according to the aging condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.239-245
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of microstructural change of materials using ultrasonic nonlinear parameters. For microstructure change, isothermal heat-treated ferritic 2.25Cr steel and low-cycle fatigue-damage copper alloy were prepared. The variation in ultrasonic nonlinearity was analyzed and evaluated through changes in hardness, ductile-brittle transition temperature, electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction tests. Ultrasonic nonlinearity of 2.25Cr steel increased rapidly during the first 1,000 hours of deterioration and then gradually increased thereafter. The variation in non-linear parameters was shown to be coarsening of carbides and an increase in the volume fraction of stable M6C carbides during heat treatment. Due to the low-cycle fatigue deformation of oxygen-free copper, the dislocation that causes lattice deformation developed in the material, distorting the propagating ultrasonic waves, and causing an increase in the ultrasonic nonlinear parameters.